Voices of the Wild

“Voices of the Wild” is a short book by Bernie Krause, an interesting person who is clearly an expert in this specialized field of recording natural soundscapes. However, this particular book didn’t do much for me. I found the writing to be a little dense, in the sense that too many “big words” made it sound more like a rhetorical speech, when really there is something interesting underneath. He does use some helpful analogies, though, and directs the reader to other resources, including an accompanying website with audio clips, moved to: http://yalebooks.com/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300206319

More than visual observation, we need to listen, the author argues. But with such a huge (infinite) range of possibilities, how to decide what to record? And what to do with the recording? One very good application he himself used is recording an ecological soundscape before and after a disturbance. For example, not just clear cutting, but even selective harvesting can have an effect. Recording the same place under the same conditions every five years is another way to show change, in the wildlife and other features. The three terms he likes to use are biophony, geophony, anthropophony, which he defines and you may deduce for yourself.

He provides a brief history of the evolution of recording technology, and his own predictions on future developments. Krause talks about music inspired by natural sounds, which he himself has contributed to, and other related artworks. Given his background and accomplishments, I probably wouldn’t recommend this book, but encourage those interested to check out some of his other work. In general, both the science and the art are very interesting fields with plenty of potential for exciting advances.